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September 14, 2013

Onam Festival Sadya Menu | Kerala Onam Lunch Dishes

This is my second Onam sadhya lunch menu with onam sadya serving order. Basically I love to try other state recipes a lot apart from my usual Tamilnadu recipes .When it comes to regional cuisine , my first choice is for kerala food. My dad’s mom(my aachi) is from Nagercoil..As it is in kerala border , my aachi’s cooking was very similar to keralites .She makes many coconut based recipes like sodhi , Avial, theeyal etc..So right from my childhood, I grown up eating those foods. This may be the reason I have a love towards kerala food. But I have never thought I could make authentic kerala recipes in my kitchen. I must thank my Ex-neighbor Mrs. Prema for sharing all her yummy recipes & inspired me to cook them. Last year i posted onam sadya recipes for the first time from vanitha magazine with the help of her.I should say that was one of the hit posts in my blog.This year I couldn’t try vanitha recipes as she had changed her house ..I really miss her and her recipes very badly :(She was a caring and good friend of me..This time too,before cooking these recipes, i called her over phone to confirm the methods of making..

I must also thank all our malayali blogger friends because all these recipes are from their blogs . I googled the recipes , chose them based on the comments and tried it.I have given the source of each recipe under the title..Everything came out very well. I felt so happy when i made this platter..I referred Roshni’s blog for serving order. Hope i have served them in correct order ..Thank u Roshni :)

I wanted to try the recipes which I din’t post in my last year’s onam sadya platter. So this year I tried paruppu curry, puli inji , Kerala sambar with freshly ground spices (without coconut), Kerala tomato rasam , Puliserry , Olan ,Avial( my mom’s recipe) , Cucumber kichadi , Vendakka pachadi , Beans mezhukkuppuratti , Cabbage thoran , Channa dal payasam , Sharkara payasam & Naranga achar ( my mil’s pickle).. U may wonder by seeing the color of sharkara payasam ;).It has to get a brown shade .As my jaggery is colorless the syrup was very light in color. So I added a pinch of red color to it. I thought it will give a brown paagu effect to the payasam but unfortunately it became orange and also it became very thick like pudding. So friends please excuse. I’ll try to update the picture. But the taste was really great. :L)

I’ve given step by step pictures for all the recipes in a simplified manner. Hope it will be understandable and helpful :)

Fry the dry red chilli for a minute. Grind together fried red chilli, pepper corns, garlic, jeera and coriander seeds slightly coarse in texture OR U can make it to a coarse paste as per the original recipe.

Pour the curd mixture and cooked ash gourd into the pan and keep it on a medium flame, stirring continuously, until it becomes warm. NEVER ALLOW THE CURD MIXTURE TO BOIL. Remove it from fire and sprinkle roasted fenugreek powder over the Pulissery and mix it well.

Chop the beans , add salt and pressure cook it in high flame for one whistle. ( This is for fast quicking & less oil consumption).Drain all the excess water.But make sure beans should be soft yet firm., It should not lose its shape.

Coarsely grind the items given under “to grind” without adding water.

In a pan , heat oil and temper mustard and curry leaves. Now add the beans and saute well in high flame for a minute to absorb all the moisture in them..

Now add the coarsely ground paste and saute them till the raw smell goes off. Do it in medium flame.Fry till the beans look dry and shiny..Remove n serve !

CABBAGE THORAN

Source – My neighbor

INGREDIENTS1 cup - 200ml

Cabbage - 1 cup

Big Onion –2 nos

Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp (optional)

To grind to a coarse paste

Grated coconut – 1/4 cup

Green chillies – 2 nos

Jeera – 1/4 tsp

To temper

Coconut oil –2 tbsp

Mustard seeds –1 tsp

Red chillies – 1no

Curry leaves - A few

METHOD

Grind coconut , green chillies and jeera to a coarse paste without adding water.Set aside.Chop the cabbage and onions ..Mix together the finely chopped cabbage, onions, and salt.

Heat oil in a kadai. Add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Then add pinched red chilli and curry leaves to it. Now add the ground mixture , saute for few minutes .Remove n serve !

Heat a tsp of oil in a kadai and fry the beans till it starts to crackle.( This step is not in the original recipe . But i did it for additional flavor)

Pressure cook the beans with 1 cup of water in low flame for two , three whistles.Drain the excess water & keep aside the cooked beans. The beans should not be over cooked and it should retain its shape.

Cook together ash gourd, green chilli, salt and 1.5 cups of water, till ash gourd becomes tender. Ash gourd also should not be overcooked and it should retain its shape.

Add the cooked beans to the ash gourd and mix well. Add coconut milk and curry leaves. Cook on low flame for 5-7 mins. Remove from the fire and drizzle some coconut oil.The curry has a thick consistency.

No need to soak the beans if u fry in oil. In the actual recipe , maria mentioned that it is not necessary to soak the beans even without frying..

Truly one of the best presentation of all good recipes and what a time consuming work it must have been, your passion shows through your effort. the step wise details are great for beginners and the narration is sample and lucid. I hope to prepare this kind of variety for Onam next year! , looks like you spent whole day in the kitchen but worth every second. All the best .

Wow, what a spread dear.. I really appreciate your effort to prepare such a lovely spread.. It is tempting me badly :) Happy Onam to you too Chitra.. And thanks a lot for letting me know that you enjoyed the sambar. It made my day :)